Agile’s boss sells another Hong Kong flat at 62% below cost in fire sale

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Chen Zhuolin, chairman of Agile Group, sold a second flat in three months as fire-sales continue in city’s property market

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The Hamburg Villa in Kowloon Tong. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Salina Li

Published: 6:30pm, 5 Nov 2024

Chen Zhuolin, the chairman of distressed mainland Chinese developer Agile Group, has sold a residential property in Hong Kong at a 62 per cent discount to his purchase price six years ago, according to government records.

The 62-year tycoon sold a 872 sq ft three-bedroom flat at Hamburg Villa on Eastbourne Road in Kowloon Tong for HK$8 million (US$1.03 million) on November 1, according to the city’s Land Registry. Chen is the sole director of Joint Smart Development, which paid HK$21.4 million for the flat in 2018 before the market peaked in 2021.

Chen earlier sold another flat in Hamburg Villa in August for HK$14.3 million, or 54 per cent below his purchase price, according to official records.

The fire sales showed the slump in Chinese property stocks over the past four years has eroded the personal fortunes of local and mainland tycoons, while draining others in extreme cases like executives at China Evergrande. Other high-profile casualties include the family of Ho Shung-pun and the family of late retail magnate Tang Shing-bor.

Chen Zhuolin, seen during a media briefing in admiralty, Hong Kong in March 2017. Photo: K. Y.

Chen and his spouse Luk Sin Fong, through a family trust, control 58 per cent of Agile, whose shares have slumped 92 per cent over the past five years.